The Home was arguably the most generative musical setting of Alice Coltrane’s life. Her and John both had longed to have their own in-house recording studio and decided to pursue that dream in Dix Hills home. With the home studio, instead of having to travel to record all over the country, the Coltranes would be able to conceive, rehearse and record their music without having to leave the four children for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, due to John’s sudden passing in 1967, he would not live to see the finished basement studio, which was completed in 1968. Alice, now a single mother with small children, found the studio to be a place of solace.
Prior to John’s death, his ensemble recorded two never released tracks in late 1966, “Manifestation” and “Reverend King.” These songs were particularly special as they’re the first studio recordings that John and Alice had done together. Inspired by these two pieces, Alice channeled grief over her husband’s death into creative energy in a way that honored the life of the late John Coltrane. She included the two songs on the first album ever produced in the basement studio, Cosmic Music. On the record, the 1966 studio recordings were accompanied by two of Alice’s original compositions, “Lord Help Me to Be” and “The Sun” which were composed at The Home. Cosmic Music was released on the family’s own Coltrane Records in 1968 before being re-released with Impulse! in 1969.
